Blue Dart Aviation (BZ, Chennai) will add two B737-800 freighters by the end of the year and is also looking at acquiring widebodies to expand into the Asian market. The Indian cargo carrier currently operates six B757-200(PCF)s on an overnight express network that connects Delhi International, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru International, Chennai, Hyderabad International, Kolkata, and Mumbai International.

Speaking during a recent earnings call, managing director Balfour Manuel said the incoming B737s' 18-tonne payloads would allow Blue Dart to start serving second- and third-tier Indian cities such as Guwahati, Coimbatore, and Kochi International among others. It is also looking at increasing its charter operations to China and Vietnam given surging e-commerce demand.

In addition, Manuel told India's Economic Times that Blue Dart is also evaluating adding B767 freighters, which would be a 60% increase on the B757's freighter capacity.

Blue Dart is also planning to retire the B757s, which average almost 28 years old, in "a few years", he added.

Majority owned by DHL Express, Blue Dart saw its quarterly net profits jump by almost 400% to INR1.19 billion rupees (USD15 million) on revenue of INR12.93 billion (USD163 million).